Editorial: State should lift cap on new charter schools

At the first annual Sabis International Charter School college fair in September, Jamal Brown, left, a financial aid adviser for uAspire Springfield Promise Program and assistant program director Erica Rose, talk to students about the way their group helps students apply for financial aid and scholarships.The Republican file / Michael S. Gordon

Once viewed as an experiment, the charter-school movement has demonstrated its success as an education model that, in most cases, works extremely well – especially in urban communities where many public schools are classified as “underperforming.”

The charter-school story in Massachusetts provides ample illustration that it is possible to bridge the stubborn achievement gap between urban and suburban students. SABIS International – the first publicly funded charter school in Springfield – is a case in point. SABIS students placed in the top 25 percent among all schools in the state on the English and math MCAS test and outscored their peers at Springfield’s public schools by a margin of 30 percent.

Two more charters – the Springfield Collegiate Charter School, designed to emphasize literacy, character development and college preparation, and the Phoenix Charter Academy, designed to serve at-risk high school students or drop outs – are poised to open in the city. We welcome the new charters, and we hope that the current cap on new charters, which was recently expanded, will be lifted again.

Enthusiasm for the new charter schools was evident last week during a hearing on the proposals in Springfield held by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. More than two dozens speakers, including business leaders and parents, urged support for the new charters and the innovative curricula they will offer.

While charter schools are not a panacea, the advantages they offer are helping failing urban students experience success. Unlike traditional public schools, charter schools have more flexibility over curriculum design, length of the school day and the hiring and firing of teachers. Of course, like all public schools, charters must prove their worth to the students and communities they serve.

On the whole, charter schools across the state are proving their worth by turning out students with higher test scores. It’s time to lift the cap to enable more urban students a chance at academic success.